Ax.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
Dec.  1, 1871.  S 
Solution  of  Suhacetate  of  Lead. 
555 
-colza  oil  was  submitted  to  a  current  of  steam  at  a  temperature  of  from 
116°  to  120°  C,  an  odorous  and  acrid  principle  was  carried  off  with- 
out sensibly  saponifying  the  oil, — an  inconvenience  which  followed  the 
employment  of  steam  too  highly  heated.  Washing  with  a  feeble  warm 
solution  of  carbonate  of  soda  takes  away  all  traces  of  the  fatty  acids 
that  may  have  been  formed,  or  have  pre-existed,  in  oil  of  bad  quality  ; 
but  the  separation  of  the  soap  so  formed  presents  some  difficulties.* 
M.  Fua  suggested!  a  modification  of  M.  Dubrunfaut's  method, 
'  which  consisted  in  melting  the  fats  at  so  high  a  temperature  that  the 
residue  of  the  cellular  and  vascular  tissues  were  thoroughly  exhausted. 
He  also  expressed  an  opinion  that  these  methods  for  the  purification 
of  fats  were  preferable  to  the  introduction  of  either  acids,  alkalies,  or 
substances,  as  these  foreign  bodies  had  always  to  be  removed  after- 
wards.— Pharm,  Journ.^  Lond.^  Oct.  21,  1871. 
SOLUTION  OF  SUBACETATE  OF  LEAD. 
By  R.  Rother. 
The  officinal  solution  of  diplumbic  acetate  (C2H302)2Pb''.Pb''0  is 
one  of  the  most  inconstant  preparations  of  the  pharmacopoeia.  In 
this  process  the  quantities  of  material  employed  are  so  adjusted,  that 
were  they  officinally  directed  in  the  proper  condition,  the  resulting 
product  would  be  diplumbic  acetate.  But  the  plumbic  oxide  of  the 
pharmacopoeia,  owing  to  the  peculiarity  of  its  constitution  and  method 
of  preparation,  is  totally  unfit  for  this  purpose.  The  writer,  in  all 
his  experience  with  this  preparation,  found  but  a  solitary  sample  of 
litharge,  which  dissolved  without  residue,  and  as  a  general  rule,  the 
greater  part  of  it  invariably  remained  insoluble,  whether  digested  in 
the  cold,  or  after  prolonged  boiling.  In  such  cases,  the  preparation 
would  therefore  be  nothing  more  than  a  solution  of  the  normal  acetate 
*  Some  idea  of  the  importance  of  this  subject  to  the  Parisians  under  then 
existing  circumstances  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  stock  of  colza  oil 
in  the  reservoirs  at  St.  Ouen  and  La  Yalette  was  estimated  at  from  12,000,000 
to  13,000,000  kilograms.  This  enormous  quantity  had  been  accumulated  by 
speculators  who,  anticipating  a  great  demand  for  illuminating  purposes,  had 
obtained  the  oil  from  all  the  markets  of  Europe.  It  was  the  ordinary  colza  oil 
of  commerce,  prepared  by  warmth  from  the  seeds  of  Brassica  Napus,  and  had 
not  undergone  sulphuric  purification  which,  while  rendering  it  combustible, 
would  have  unfitted  it  for  alimentation. 
t  Comptes  Rendus,  Ixxii,  .59. 
